EID Award

 2023 EID Award Winner

Dr. David LeBauer

Staff Scientist
Indigo Ag
Profile

David LeBauer’s work aims to apply scientific understanding to improve the sustainability of agricultural and other managed ecosystems. Early in his career he trained hundreds of farmers to grow shiitake mushrooms, and he has since trained as many researchers in scientific computing. He has also facilitated research by implementing novel approaches to data management and synthesis. This includes developing data and software tools that enable understanding and prediction of plant and ecosystem function.

After receiving his PhD in Earth System Science from the University of California at Irvine in 2008, Dr. LeBauer developed new approaches to combining available data with mechanistic models. Dr. LeBauer started development of the Predictive Ecosystem Analyzer (PEcAn) software to facilitate the integration of available data and expert knowledge with ecosystem models. To support this work, he built a database of bioenergy plant traits and yields (BETYdb) and has contributed to the Global Forest Carbon database and others. Dr. LeBauer first joined the phenomics community when he led the TERRA REF data and computing team that wrangled the world’s largest agricultural robot to produce the world’s largest public domain agricultural dataset. He has contributed to the development and implementation of standardized vocabularies and data formats and to the development of scalable pipelines.

As Director of Data Science for the Arizona Experiment Station over the last five years, Dr. LeBauer built the data science support team for the University of Arizona’s Division of Agriculture, Life and Veterinary Sciences, and Cooperative Extension. This team enables data intensive research across the Division through a combination of training, consultation, and collaboration. Last week, he started a position as staff scientist at Indigo Ag, where he will continue his work with a focus on quantifying and rewarding farmers for adopting sustainable practices. In this position he will apply his expertise in ecophysiology and informatics to support measurement and modeling of managed ecosystems.